Early American Scientific Instruments and Their Makers Part 4

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 21.--Davis quadrant or backstaff made and signed by William Guyse Hagger of Newport, Rhode Island, about 1760-1770. USNM 319029.]

Another instrument maker of Rhode Island was William Hamlin (1772-1869).

He had established himself in Providence by the beginning of the 19th century in the manufacturing and repairing of mathematical and nautical instruments, for which there was an active market in that city. Hamlin was one of the first engravers in America and the first in Rhode Island.

He designed and engraved banknotes for many banks in the State and for other inst.i.tutions. At the same time he carried on a general trade in the sale of musical instruments. Hamlin moved his shop several times, but from 1847 until his death he worked at "The Sign of the Quadrant"

(see fig. 22) at 131 South Water Street. He was equally interested in optics and astronomy, and it has been claimed that he constructed the first telescope in America. It is well established that he worked for many years to perfect a reflecting telescope for his own use.[41]

Instruments were made also by Paul Pease, who may have been the husband of the daughter of Nathaniel Folger of Nantucket. This Elizabeth Folger Pease, wife of a Paul Pease, was born in 1720 and died in 1795. Little is known about Pease except for the name "Paul Pease 1750" inscribed on a quadrant in the collection of the Rhode Island Historical Society.[42]

_Connecticut_

The clockmakers who worked in Connecticut during the span of the 18th century numbered almost a hundred. Yet only a half dozen appear on record to have made or sold instruments in addition to clocks. Among these were several members of the Doolittle family, including Isaac Doolittle (1721-1800) of New Haven. In 1763 he advertised that he sold surveying compa.s.ses in addition to clocks, watches, bar iron, and chocolate.[43] His son Isaac Doolittle, Jr. (1759-1821), also of New Haven, established a shop of his own, which he advertised in 1781 as having

Compa.s.ses of all kinds, both for sea and land, surveyors scales, and protractors, gauging rods, walking sticks, silver and plated b.u.t.tons, turned upon horn; also clocks and watches made and repaired ...[44]

Although not very active as a clockmaker, Isaac Jr. appears to have specialized more in the production of surveying and nautical instruments. He took over his father's business just before the latter's death, and in 1799 he advertised[45]:

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 22.--Trade cards of William Hamlin (1772-1869), engraver and instrument maker of Providence, Rhode Island. In collection of Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence.]

The subscriber having commenced business at the shop lately occupied by Mr. Isaac Doolittle, in Chapel Street, where he repairs watches, makes and repairs Surveyors Compa.s.ses and Chains, Bra.s.s Amplitude, plain bra.s.s and common s.h.i.+p's Compa.s.ses, Gauging Rods, Quadrants, repair'd &c. every favor gratefully received by the public's humble servant, Isaac Doolittle, jun.

Enos Doolittle (1751-1806), a nephew of Isaac Doolittle, Sr., made, sold, cleaned, and repaired clocks and surveying and marine compa.s.ses from 1772 through 1788 at his shop in Hartford. He also sold these items through agents in Saybrook and Middleton.[46]

One of the best known of the Connecticut clockmakers was Peregrine White (1747-1834), of Woodstock. White was a descendant of the first Pilgrim child, and a native of Boston. After serving an apprentices.h.i.+p, he worked as a clockmaker and silversmith in Boston. He was accused of forging silver spoons and left the city to settle in Woodstock. He established his own shop west of Muddy Brook Village.[47] In addition to fine tall-case clocks, for which he was noted, White also produced surveying compa.s.ses, one of which is in the collection of the U.S.

National Museum (fig. 23). A similar specimen in Old Sturbridge Village is reputed to have been used for surveying the town of Southbridge, Ma.s.s.

Benjamin Hanks (1755-1824), of Mansfield and Litchfield, inserted a notice in a newspaper in 1808 to notify the public that he and his son Truman Hanks, in partners.h.i.+p, had "surveyors compa.s.ses upon the Rittenhouse improved plan" in addition to such other commodities as bra.s.s cannon, bells from their own foundry, clocks, goldsmith's items, and stocking looms.[48]

Ziba Blakslee (1768-1834), of Newton, worked as a clockmaker, goldsmith, and bell founder and he advertised that he made and sold surveying instruments.[49]

In New Haven, Clark Sibley and Simeon Marble organized the firm of Sibley & Marble and advertised that in addition to repairing swords and cutla.s.ses, clocks and watches, they also repaired mathematical and surgical instruments.[50]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 23.--Bra.s.s surveying compa.s.s made about 1790 by Peregrine White (1747-1834) of Woodstock, Connecticut. USNM 388993.]

One of the instrument makers of New England who has remained relatively unknown was Benjamin Platt (1757-1833), who was born in Danbury, Connecticut, on January 3, 1757.[51] He married Adah Fairchild of the same city in 1776, and it is believed that he must have completed his apprentices.h.i.+p by that date inasmuch as apprentices usually were not allowed to marry.

It is not known how long Platt worked in his native city, but by 1780 he had moved to Litchfield, where he worked in gold, silver, and bra.s.s. He became established as a clockmaker and produced tall case clocks and other types. In 1787 he was in New Milford, a town adjacent to Danbury, where he produced surveying compa.s.ses (see fig. 24). Three years later, in 1790, he was at Milford, where he invented a "Compa.s.s for measuring distance in hilly country." In 1793 he returned to New Milford, where he made a clock to order for Eli Todd, and by 1800 he had moved to Lanesboro, Ma.s.sachusetts.

_Ohio_

Benjamin Platt was the migratory type. In 1817 he migrated from Lanesboro to Columbus, Ohio. His son, Augustus Platt (1793-1886), also made mathematical instruments (see fig. 25) in Columbus. In 1809 a grandson, named William Augustus Platt was born. When the child's mother died, Benjamin and Adah Platt adopted the boy, and when he came of age he went into the watchmaking trade. William Platt married f.a.n.n.y Hayes, sister of President Hayes.[52] His shop was listed in the 1843 city directory; it was the first jewelry and clock and watch store in the community.

An interesting account of instrument making in Ohio is found in the report of a missionary, John Heckewelder. He mentioned the brothers Joseph and Francois Devacht who worked as watchmakers and instrument makers in Gallipolis, Ohio. Writing in 1792, Heckewelder stated that "the most interesting shops of the Workmen [in Gallipolis] were those of the Goldsmiths and Watchmakers. They showed us work on watches, compa.s.ses, sundials finer than I have ever beheld."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 24.--Bra.s.s surveying compa.s.s made by Benjamin Platt (1757-1833) of New Milford, Connecticut, about 1795-1800. Shown in original wooden case and separately (opposite page). Photos courtesy Ohio State Museum.]

_New York_

There were relatively few makers of mathematical instruments in New York City before the end of the 18th century. Perhaps the earliest was John Bailey, who moved from Fredericksburg, Virginia, to Fishkill, New York, in 1778. He was a cutler by trade, and he made and sold surgical instruments.[53]

"Bulmain & Dennies" at 59 Water Street in New York were the appointed agents to sell the "Perpetual Log or Distance Clock to find a s.h.i.+p's way at sea." The device had been patented in the United States, and one of the instruments was displayed at the bar of the Tontine Coffee House, according to an advertis.e.m.e.nt in the July 23, 1799, issue of the _New York Gazette and General Advertiser_.

H. Caritat, at 153 Broadway in New York, imported and sold "The Planispherical Planetarium." This item was described in an advertis.e.m.e.nt[54] as "a graphic representation of the earth, in twelve particular positions during its revolutionary course around the sun, as also of the Moon's revolution around the earth, together with literal description of parts and motions, etc." The advertis.e.m.e.nt also stated that Caritat sold "Carey's newly improved Terrestrial and Celestial Globes which omitted the Constellary Configurations."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 25.--Surveying theodolite made by Augustus Platt (1793-1886) of Columbus, Ohio, in the early 19th century. Photo courtesy Ohio State Museum.]

In 1785 M. Morris of New York City made and sold his own invention of a "Nautical Protractor for the price of One Dollar." In an advertis.e.m.e.nt in _The Independent Journal or the General Advertiser_ of May 25, 1785, he explained that the device was for use in the construction of globular maps and Mercator charts. He also made another protractor for attaching to the end of a ruler for measuring distances on charts. He planned to publish a treatise on the subject of his inventions.

James Youle, a cutler and mechanician with a shop located first on Fly Street and then at 64 Water Street "at the Sign of the Cross-Knives and Gun," sold a large variety of cutlery and hardware for gun repair. He also made surgical instruments. He died in February 1786 at the age of 46 as the result of an injury to his chest from a breaking grindstone while working in his shop. He was survived by a widow and nine children and was succeeded in business by his son John Youle.[55]

_New Jersey_

One of the few instrument makers known to have worked in New Jersey was Aaron Miller of "Elizabeth-town." He was first noted in the New York newspapers in 1748 when he notified the public that, in addition to clocks, he made compa.s.ses, chains for surveyors, and church bells, for which he maintained his own foundry. When he died in 1771 he left all his tools to a son-in-law, Isaac Brokaw.[56]

Another craftsman who is ent.i.tled to being included as an instrument maker was Richard Wistar. When Casper Wistar died in 1752, his son Richard succeeded him as owner of the famous gla.s.s works. In addition to window gla.s.s and gla.s.sware, Richard Wistar also produced such special products as retorts for use in chemistry and "electerizing globes and tubes," as well as bottles for Leyden jars that Benjamin Franklin had urged him to attempt in the early 1750's.[57]

_Delaware_

George Crow (ca. 1725-1771/72) of Wilmington, Delaware, was apparently well established as a clockmaker in the community by the time of his marriage in 1746 to Mary Laudonet. They had four children, and Crow's two sons followed his trade. George Crow was active in civic affairs, and in addition to clocks, he produced surveying compa.s.ses, several of which have survived.[58]

_Maryland and Virginia_

Brief mention has already been made of the Chandlee family of clockmakers and instrument makers of the 18th century. The founder of the line and first of interest was Benjamin Chandlee, Sr., who migrated in 1702 from Ireland to Philadelphia, where he was apprenticed to Abel Cottey, clockmaker, and eventually married his daughter. His son Benjamin Chandlee, Jr. (1723-1791), worked as a clockmaker in Nottingham, Maryland, where he produced instruments as well as clocks. A fine example of a bra.s.s surveying compa.s.s--inscribed with his name, and which is believed to have been made for the Gilpin family in about 1761--is on exhibition in the Chester County Historical Society. He had four sons, and a few years before his death he established the firm of Chandlee & Sons, the name of which was changed to Ellis Chandlee & Brothers a year before he died.

The oldest of Benjamin Jr.'s four sons was Goldsmith Chandlee (c.1746-1821). After serving an apprentices.h.i.+p with his father, Goldsmith moved to Virginia and worked near Stephensburg (now Stephens City). He eventually established himself at Winchester and built a bra.s.s foundry and a shop where he produced clocks, surveying compa.s.ses, sundials, apothecary and money scales, surgical instruments, compa.s.ses, telescopes, and other items in metal. Numerous examples of his clocks and instruments have survived. Their fine quality attests to the claim that he was one of the foremost craftsmen of the 18th century. Several of his surveying compa.s.ses exist in modern collections. An instrument (fig. 26) that he made about 1794 for a surveyor named Robert Lyle is in the writer's collection; an almost identical instrument that Chandlee made for Lawrence Augustine Was.h.i.+ngton, George Was.h.i.+ngton's nephew, is exhibited in the library at Mount Vernon, Virginia.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 26.--The label of Goldsmith Chandlee. In the collection of Ohio Historical Society, Ohio State Museum.]

Ellis Chandlee (1755-1816) also was apprenticed to his father, and he worked with his brothers in the shop. He established the firm of Ellis Chandlee & Brothers, in 1790, shortly before his father's death. The firm was dissolved in 1797 when the youngest brother, John Chandlee, left the firm. Ellis continued in partners.h.i.+p with his other brother, Isaac Chandlee (1760-1813), until about 1804, producing clocks, surveying instruments, and other metal articles. Their products were signed "Ellis and Isaac Chandlee, Nottingham," or, in the case of a surveying compa.s.s in the collection of the Chester County Historical Society, "E. & I. Chandlee, Nottingham." Isaac Chandlee also produced clocks and instruments under his own name only, for there are a number of surviving clocks and surveying compa.s.ses signed in such manner (see fig. 28).[59]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 27.--Bra.s.s surveying compa.s.s with outkeeper made by Goldsmith Chandlee (c. 1746-1821) of Winchester, Virginia, for Robert Lyle. Over-all length, 14-1/2 in.; diameter, 7 in. Instrument, in original wooden case, bears ink signature of Robert Lyle. In collection of the writer.]

One of the most important craftsmen of Maryland was Frederick A. Heisely (1759-1839). A native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he served an apprentices.h.i.+p there with John Hoff, the master clockmaker, from 1777 to 1783. Heisely served in the Revolution. In 1783, presumably upon the completion of his apprentices.h.i.+p, he married Catherine Hoff, the clockmaker's daughter. He moved to Frederick, Maryland, where he established his own clockmaking shop and where he specialized in making mathematical instruments. A tower clock made in Frederick is in the collection of the U.S. National Museum. Heisely returned to Lancaster to become Hoff's partner, and worked with him until 1802. He then moved his shop to Harrisburg and worked there until 1820. He moved once more, this time to Pittsburgh where he advertised himself as a "Clock, Watch and Instrument Maker," with a shop at No. 6 St. Clair Street.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 28.--Bra.s.s surveying compa.s.s made by Goldsmith Chandlee for Laurence Augustine Was.h.i.+ngton in about 1795. In the library at Mount Vernon. Photo courtesy the Mount Vernon Ladies a.s.sociation of the Union.]

George Heisely (1789-1880), Frederick's son, who was born at Frederick, Maryland, achieved note in his own right as a maker of clocks and instruments. He worked at Second and Walnut Streets in Harrisburg. He is credited with being the person who selected the melody of "To Anacreon in Heaven" for "The Star-Spangled Banner," while he was serving as a member of the Pennsylvania State Militia.[60]

_Pennsylvania_

A number of instrument makers worked in Philadelphia, which was one of the important s.h.i.+pping centers during the 18th century and consequently one of the important markets for nautical instruments.